Czech writers show support for sentenced Palestinian poet

Czech writers have joined a worldwide initiative in support of the Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh living in Saudi Arabia, who was sentenced to death by the Saudi authorities for his love poems, which allegedly contain atheistic formulations. A public reading, attended by a number of Czech poets, took place at the Faculty of Arts in Prague on Thursday evening:

Adam Borzic, photo: Czech Television

The death penalty for Ashraf Fayadh, a 35-year-old Palestinian writer, is the culmination of a long trial against him, in which he was already sentenced to severe punishment and whipping. I asked the Czech poet Adam Borzic, organizer of the Prague reading, to outline the circumstances that led to Fayadh’s imprisonment:

“According to the charges, which are based on his poems and statements on his Twitter account, Fayadh has lost his faith. But it is apparent that he has become victim of a political dispute within the Saudi Arabian regime. Some people say that the conservative and reformist parties are settling their issues this way, because Fayadh is a significant personality on the Arabic culture scene. He is not only a poet but also a fine artist and he was a curator at the Venice 2013 Biennial.”

The public reading in support of Fayadh was initiated in Berlin, where it was joined by such personalities as Orhan Pamuk or Elfriede Jelinek. Among the Czech poets who attended Thursday’s public reading were Marie Iljašenko, Svatava Antošová, and Magnesia Litera holder Jakub Řehák. People could also hear translations and original Arabic versions of Fayad’s own poetry.

The International PEN Club stood up for Fayadh last November, when it demanded his immediate release. Markéta Hejkalová, publisher and member of the committee for imprisoned writers of the PEN Club’s Czech centre, says that defending freedom of expression is one of the duties of the worldwide writers’ association:

“We are not so naïve as to think that just because of writing a letter, or staging an event such as yesterdays’ reading, even though it was attended by writers all over the world, we can achieve something immediately. But at least the authorities know that we are following the case, that the writer, who is in prison, is not alone. That the writers and literary community all over the world knows about this case. So this is the only thing that we can do.”

The Czech PEN Club has also been involved in the case of Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to ten years in prison and 1000 lashes, and has addressed the persecution of writers from China and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Although the impact of international criticism may be limited, Adam Borzic still believes that it does make a difference. If nothing else, he says, it is a message for Mr Fayadh and other persecuted writers that there are people outside who are thinking of them and expressing their support.